Applying your pronunciation foundation to your important communication challenges
One of the benefits of my structured approach to Accent Reduction and the strong pronunciation foundation we create is that you learn an easy and efficient shared language we then use for effective correction. We can then apply your pronunciation foundation, using this shared language, to a variety of communication tasks.
I use a structured process for developing new habits, skills, language, and confidence in customized communication tasks that include interviewing; pitching products, projects, ideas, or companies; all types of presentations; and telling your professional or personal story conversationally.
I first provide a structure and handout for you to draft the script of your talk. Then we review the script together in a lesson, and I check for any issues with grammar, vocabulary, style, or aspects of delivery. If slides are included, we review them for content, design, grammar, and typos. Clients typically find this process quite helpful, as I often ask questions that draw out useful information they hadn’t included.
I then develop customized practice exercises for the communication task. This can include highlighting the pronunciation of key vocabulary, marking the script with reminders to aid in speaking expressively, and creating practice recordings for use between lessons.
Once we’ve completed this preparation, we practice the communication task in our lessons.
The major categories of professional communication tasks we can address, along with examples, are listed below. You’ll see a few Success Stories, too.
Pitching Products, Ideas, Projects or Companies
Develop the language, clarity, expressiveness, and delivery techniques to pitch confidently in any setting
Male French Regional Sales Manager for a company that manufactures liquid-filling machines: developing his pitch script and practicing its delivery for multiple daily cold calls to potential customers
Success Story: Pitching
I enjoyed the challenge of helping this Business Development Specialist prepare to pitch a new product, FaceHeart Vitals, designed to allow medical staff to take patient vital signs via webcam. She had recently started the job, didn’t have extensive experience speaking English, and had to pitch at an international medical conference within a few weeks from our first lesson.
Her overall goals for our work were to feel confident speaking English in any setting and with anyone, continue learning English to improve her chances for career advancement, develop her presentation skills, and be able to think in English.
“When I first came to Grace in the middle of 2023, I had been assigned to pitch our product at one of the biggest medical conferences but struggled to speak in well-structured sentences. After working with Grace for 8 months, I not only felt much more confident about my verbal skills but also learned how to communicate with international customers. This was such a transformative experience for me that I’m no longer afraid of being misunderstood due to my accent. With Grace’s expertise and patience, she helped me identify how to say words in the right way. In my over10-year journey of learning English, I’ve never felt so comfortable speaking with native speakers, conducting meetings and giving public speeches. While learning a new language is always challenging, Grace’s company has made the process seamless and enjoyable, opening new opportunities in my career.”
Presenting
Develop skill, credibility and authority in delivering engaging presentations
I have extensive experience in presentation coaching that began during my years as an ESL Support Instructor at Academy of Art University, where I had the unique opportunity to work alongside Emmy-winning former San Francisco news anchor Manny Ramos, who taught media skills to international graduate students. Manny taught them broadcasting and on-camera skills in the college’s TV studio, while I developed their pronunciation skills, ensuring they expressed emotion appropriate to the story.
Male French Tech Founder / CEO: progressing from speaking relatively little English when we began working together to delivering his first keynote in English to several thousand employees within two years; continuing to develop and practice keynote presentations, along with a wide range of other communication tasks, over eight years.
Male Spanish Advertising / Sustainability Change Agency Founder / CEO: over eight years, developing the English language and core stories used to communicate his company’s identity and projects, then adapting and practicing them for different settings, including conference conversations, panel discussions, and written award nominations for projects that went on to win.
Female Korean Protestant Minister: reviewing her sermon content and refining her preaching
Male French Tech Engineering Manager: creating and delivering webinar for staff
Female Taiwanese University Student Studying Musical Composition: preparing the language, script, and delivery for hosting her self-organized graduation concert showcasing her original compositions
Success Story: Presenting
We used this Algorithm Developer’s pronunciation foundation to help him successfully deliver the graduation speech he was asked to give as valedictorian of his graduate program. A mathematician, he also kindly joined a lesson with a French tech founder / CEO client who wanted to be able to discuss math fluently in English. The client appreciated the opportunity to practice through a real conversation with an expert.
His goals for our work were to feel confident speaking English in any setting and with anyone, improve his chances for career advancement, be easily understood by others in general and specifically in job interviews, have ease in making English-speaking friends, and sound like a native speaker of Standard American English.
“Grace is truly a great teacher. The lessons and study materials are well-organized, which made it easy for me to review the material and practice it effectively. She did a great job in custom-tailoring the lessons so that they fit my level of English, ensuring that I got the most out of our lessons. After 4 months of working with Grace, my accent and way of expressing myself in English have improved significantly – I am very happy with the results. And above all, the lessons are fun, enriching and never boring. I highly recommend her!”
Presenting Topics That Interest You
Develop speaking and presentation skills by selecting a topic that interests you and creating a short presentation to teach me about it.
You choose the topic and we work on organizing the content, explaining ideas clearly and conversationally, and using effective pronunciation, expression, vocabulary, and grammar.
Clients have taught me about an extraordinary range of subjects, including cryptocurrency, the city of Novosibirsk, woodworking, growing plants, differences between French and American culture, and books they’ve read.
Working with Designers
My unique experience as an ESL Support Instructor at Academy of Art University also gave me an understanding of how designers communicate about design. In this role, I attended the design classes of the international students I supported by ensuring they understood in English the language, concepts, assignments, critiques, and communication culture of design as taught in their classes. I attended classes across a range of design disciplines, including graphic, interior, fashion, industrial, automotive, and UX/visual/product design.
I have subsequently taught people doing that work in the field—including some AAU graduates, the designers of fuseproject, and others.
My work with designers can include pitching and presenting their designs, explaining processes and concepts, developing specialized vocabulary, describing the rationale behind design choices, and responding quickly to questions in fast-paced meetings.
Female Korean Industrial Designer at fuseproject: describing the design details and their rationale in preparation for discussing her work on projects that went on to win awards – Moxie, a children’s learning robot, and ElliQ, a robot sidekick for the elderly designed to make aging happier, and recently featured in the New York Times
Explaining Highly Technical Processes
Develop skill, credibility, authority, and confidence in explaining technical processes in presentations and meetings
I genuinely enjoy learning the technical language each client must pronounce clearly while performing their job, as well as coaching them to use that language effectively when explaining complex information to others.
Male Chinese-speaking Physics Graduate Student: preparing for physics teaching assistant roles by teaching me about neutrinos
Male French Biotech Scientist: presenting his CRISPR research
Female Spanish Geologist working for oil company in Norway: explaining how and where she identified the location of oil deposits for the company
Male Korean Transplant Surgeon: practicing technical language for medical conferences and training on a new surgical robot
Female Brazilian Court Clerk: meeting the requirement to pronounce specific courtroom language perfectly for official duties such as swearing people in
Male Chinese-speaking Computer Scientists / Inventors / Founders: preparing these two founders of a small company to testify before a jury in a patent infringement trial involving major tech companies that had used their patented mobile payment technology without permission; developing language to explain the complex technology clearly to a non-technical jury
Female Chinese-speaking Glacial Geophysicist: preparing to present her glacier research findings at scientific conferences
Female Ukrainian Quality Assurance Engineer: explaining bugs and fixes efficiently in meetings; reviewing sentences she had developed with ChatGPT to understand the language and structure and sometimes simplifying or revising them for more effective spoken communication
AI can be a very useful tool for developing language. Our work can then focus on understanding, adapting, and integrating that language so you can use it naturally and effectively in real communication.
Interviewing
Develop skills and confidence in interviewing for jobs, interviewing job candidates, and negotiating salary. Prepare for interviews about your work or company, panel discussions, and conversations with global leaders
Male French Tech Founder / CEO: preparing to discuss his company’s AI strategies in interviews and panel discussions with European leaders
Male Chinese-speaking Software Engineer: interviewing for Congressional Fellowship that he received
Male French Tech Engineering Manager: refining his message and practicing delivery for job candidate interviews
Female Ukrainian Financial Analyst: interviewing for a job she received and negotiating her salary
Success Story: Interviewing
I began working with a Japanese accountant who was referred to me by her husband, a former student in my San Francisco State University Refining Pronunciation class about ten years earlier. Her goals were to feel confident speaking English in any setting and with anyone, continue learning English to improve her chances for career advancement, and have ease in making English-speaking friends.
I helped her prepare for her job search by compiling and practicing a script describing her work history. After she got the job, we shifted our focus to helping her adapt to her new position with the City of San Francisco.
“After moving to San Francisco, I realized I needed to improve my English skills for the future. My partner had previously taken lessons with Grace and highly recommended her, so I decided to take her lessons.
What surprised me the most after starting pronunciation lessons was that not only did I begin to use the same techniques native speakers use, but my listening skills also improved significantly. I was also able to catch the pronunciation of unfamiliar words, look them up later, and fully understand their meanings.
But that’s not all. One of the great things about Grace’s lessons is that she customizes the content to fit each student’s situation.
During my lesson series, I was searching for a job. Grace reviewed my answers to basic interview questions, helping me create responses that were clearer and more impactful. She even integrated speaking practice to help me communicate more effectively. This gave me the confidence to go into my interviews and succeed in getting a great job.
After I received my final job offer, we shifted the focus of the lessons to workplace communication and worked on my grammar, which was a weak point for me. Since starting the lessons, my English skills have improved tremendously compared to before.
I highly recommend Grace’s lessons to anyone serious about significantly improving their English.”
Building Confidence
Develop a stronger speaking voice that naturally expresses your personality
I’m often consulted to coach clients who already speak English very well but would like to develop greater confidence in particular communication skills or situations—such as initiating conversations socially or at work, making small talk, interviewing, or presenting their work. Others want to develop a stronger, more expressive speaking voice and feel confident communicating in a wide variety of professional and social situations.
Success Story: Building Confidence
This Physics Ph.D. Student at Stanford University had already spent six years in the U.S. attending high school and college when we began working together. As part of our work, he prepared for physics teaching assistant roles by teaching me about neutrinos.
“I already had a good foundation in speaking and accent when I started Grace’s classes after spending 6 years in the US for high school and college. I went into the lessons with the aim of polishing my diction and improving my confidence and fluidity in different social and professional situations. That is exactly what I got after working with Grace. Her systematic and customized lesson plans really helped me improve my intonation and expressiveness and made me sound much more natural and confident. She is always very patient and dedicated and made the lessons an enjoyable experience I always looked forward to every week. I highly recommend her lessons to people of all levels looking to improve their speaking and find their voice.”
Using Acting, Improv, Poetry, and Music
Improve clarity, expressiveness, and confidence, and develop a conversational style of speaking by applying your pronunciation foundation to acting scenes and poems
Practice songs from the Broadway musical, Hamilton, as a wonderful way to integrate your pronunciation foundation and develop a natural, conversational, expressive style of speaking
Prepare for the U.S. citizenship test by learning about the accurate historical context of Hamilton
Female Mexican Project Manager for a general contractor: developing articulation and expressiveness through reading poetry by Maya Angelou, a favorite of her 9-year-old daughter. She and her daughter practice both the poems and the songs from Hamilton together. We’re also using Hamilton and practice questions to prepare for her U.S. citizenship test.
Success Stories: Hamilton
This German-speaking student, whose Speech Samples are included in the Developing Expressiveness: Personality & Impact section on the Speech Samples page, enjoyed practicing songs from Hamilton, particularly the challenging Guns & Ships. In this sample, he sings the parts of both Aaron Burr and Lafayette, along with the ensemble’s quick “Lafayette!” interjections that introduce Lafayette. Lafayette’s part features the fastest rap ever performed in a Broadway musical.
This Chinese-speaking client’s Speech Samples are in the Reconnecting section on the Speech Samples page. Ten years after attending my Refining Pronunciation class, she looked me up and has enjoyed refining her accent and discovering just how much practicing songs from the Broadway musical Hamilton has improved her articulation and expressiveness. Here she is singing the opening of Alexander Hamilton, the first song in the musical, which introduces us to Hamilton’s life story.
Curious to learn more? You can read more Testimonials here and listen to more Speech Samples here.
Let’s set up a free 30-minute Zoom consultation to discuss working together.
“Since my job is about speaking, this class was very important in concretely helping this difficult aspect of communication. The teacher, Grace, was very accurate and skillful in checking and improving the fine points of language that occur in common, everyday mistakes. This class made me more confident in speaking English. Thank you, Grace; it was an excellent class for me.”
“I’ve lived in the US for almost 30 years but never got rid of my accent. This made me self-conscious and prevented me from achieving certain professional goals. It’s amazing how quickly and efficiently Grace was able to detect my weak spots in American pronunciation. She pointed out very subtle nuances which has made a huge difference for me. I feel much more confident in engaging in small talk as well as professional presentations. Time and money well spent! Thank you, Grace!”
“I absolutely enjoyed attending this course. It was really useful for me. I improved a lot and I will keep in mind many of the revelations I had about the importance of pitch, vowel clarity, syllable length. I’m certainly more confident now! Thank you very much, Grace!”